Sunday, 17 November 2013

Sunday Summary (2-for-1 special offer...)

There was me thinking that I’d have a lot to report back to
over two weeks. Not so much. So here are two weeks encompassed in one summary!

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This week fortnight, y’all, I have mostly been…

Bowling |
Appallingly. A friend and I went to Hollywood Bowl in Crawley
for a couple of games on the Tuesday night before last. I seemed to get worse
as the games progressed. Sports/activities involving sustained co-ordination
and ball-handling are not my forte. It was fun, though. I’ve demanded a
rematch.

This is not how the evening panned out (I was not wearing
gold leggings for starters) but it’s the song I will always think of when
facing a set o’ ten pins:

{I suspect I've posted this before but can't remember when!}

Hosting | my good
friend (and former drama teacher) Jo. Jo’s
not been down this way for a visit during the autumn/winter – we usually have summer
visits and head to Brighton for photos, fish, chips and
meanders through the Lanes.

This year, we stayed closer to
home and meandered round my damp little adoptive hometown. We walked up to the
Deli on the Hill,
owned by my friend Belinda and her husband Paul, for
a delicious coffee and a brownie. Then on Sunday afternoon we ventured to
nearby Reigate to photograph the autumn colours in PrioryPark. Afterwards we treated
ourselves to tea/hot chocolate/scones/tea cakes at the gorgeous Vintage Tea House on Church
Street in Reigate, before returning a chez moi to hang fairy lights, drink mulled wine and bake chocolate raspberry brownies.

Blissful!

Reading | Jane Austen,Pride and Prejudice verrrry slowly. I
admit it, my reading’s in a slump at the moment after a frenzy of activity.

Listening | to this little number. It amuses me. Never been a true raver in my life but it made me smile. Eat. Sleep. Rave. Repeat. | Fatboy Slim and Riva Starr feat. Beardyman (Calvin Harris remix)

Singing | Change the World by EricClapton in rock choir. The arrangement we’re
working on is taking some time to perfect, but it’s going to sound beautiful. Here's the original:

In 1928, Christine Collins' (Angelina Jolie) nine-year-old son Walter goes missing from his Los Angeles home while his mother is at work. Five months later, the LAPD -- then renowned for their corrupt practices -- attempt to replace Walter with an entirely different child who has been convinced to play along with the police.

When Christine insists, rightly, that the boy returned to her is certainly not her child, she is lambasted by a number of patronising male professionals (doctors, police officers...) and incarcerated in a mental ward until she agrees to collude with the police's story and tell the world that the child is her son.

Meanwhile, she is aided by a sympathetic pastor, played by John Malkovich, who is determined to expose the corruption going on within the LAPD, have Christine released from the hospital, and help her discover what has really happened to Walter.

***Slightly redundant spoiler alert given this film's 5 years old :) ***

I've never had much time for the works of Ms Jolie (for me sadly she's always been one of those actors whose tabloid mythology has somewhat overshadowed her capabilities as a performer...) -- but she is properly magnificent in this film. When she rages against the police, the medical authorities and eventually the man accused of murdering her son, her pain and anger is palpable.

The film itself is flawed -- a lot of questions remain unanswered (regardless of the outcome of the true story) -- but it's still an engaging piece.